Voeders Van Simaey – Leroy

Built:
1929

Abandoned: 2008

Visited: 2017

Gavere, Belgium

This is the silo tower of the Van Simaey-Leroy catllefood company in Gavere. The buildings are a typical example of the concrete silo construction during the interwar period. With its 29 silos, this tower belongs to the larger silo towers from this period.

The silos were built in 1930 for ‘Van Simaey Broeders en Zuster’ to provide food for the chicken farm they owned. The factory was built by ‘Construction Industrielle’, a construction company from Aalst. The tower was the central point of the site and the pride of the company. This iconic image was often used in corporate communication and publicity.

The location of the
factory near the Scheldt river was ideal for new, better and more
efficient grain supply options. A train track was built for factory,
new machines and silos were installed and warehouses were built.

Leroy

The animal feed
business was an important branch of industry for Gavere since the
1920s up to the end of the 20th century. In 1970 the Van Simaey
company was taken over by the three brothers Silvaan, Hugo and Willy
Leroy. The production was changed to pig and cattle feed under the
new owners. Because of the modernization, the factory was thoroughly
rebuilt and expanded.

Hugo Leroy sold his
shares to his two brothers in the year 2000. Seven years later,
Silvaan got out and sold his shares to ‘Dobbels Quality‘ from
Pittem. In 2008 the owners offered the outdated company for sale. The
18 employees were employed at other Dobbels factories. The iconic
tower is protected in 2012, the surrounding buildings were demolished
in 2019, the tower is transformed into lofts.